Aquatic Uncle

I’ve written before about subgenres that make science fiction fun and unique, but now I want to take a look from a larger scale. “Speculative fiction” is a term that describes stories that are based in imaginary worlds rather than grounded in reality. Science fiction is special in that it is one of the few genres, along with fantasy and horror, which can fit comfortably.  Speculative fiction is a genre where anything is possible if the author can imagine it, which makes it fascinating to analyze. However, to casual readers, it might not be as accessible as literary writing.

The question is how do we do we differentiate between speculative genres and literary writing? There is so much blending of the two that it is hard to draw a line, but I sure can try! Let’s look at “The Aquatic Uncle” by Italo Calvino. The concept of the short story is definitely speculative. It takes place 300 million years ago and is about the lives of creatures as they experience evolution first hand. These partially land based and aquatic creatures are intelligent enough to talk, have relationships, and form a society even at this primitive stage in the Earth’s history. So far, speculative.

The story’s plot and underlying themes, however, are relevant in today’s society. The older group of creatures that live in the sea and the younger group that is evolving on land have come to a social divide. This is similar in many ways to the age gap in modern society. Many older people today romanticize the past, are stubborn to change their views on life, and blame young people for everything. Young people pride themselves on being more progressive than the past generation. Social commentary is more of a theme in literary writing, while speculative fiction is based in imagination.

Altogether, it probably is not necessary to be able to define a genre for every story out there. Many stories blend multiple genres, and many genres themselves are just made up of other genres. It’s an interesting subject to research and analyze, but in the end whether or not the story fits into one genre or another does not make a story less enjoyable or impactful.